The Beauty of the Snow
by QueenHimiko
Summary: Lina and Gourry wait out a snowstorm in a cave. Written for Slayers Santa 2013.


**AN: I do not own _The Slayers_ , I just play in the sandbox.**

It was not the most comfortable place to call home, but it sure beat being out in the storm. Being from the more temperate climate of Zeferia with its blazing hot summers and mild winters ideal for growing grapes, Lina had been unfamiliar with just how quickly a blizzard could form and turn deadly until she found herself trapped with Gourry out in the middle of nowhere between two towns with visibility rapidly decreasing as the snow piled at a rate of speed around their feet that was appalling.

Fortunately Gourry's keen eyesight saved the day. How he saw the cave in the first place she would never know, she was merely thankful that he had, for it was all that was keeping them from the fearsome blizzard outside. When all was said and done, freezing to death did not rank high on her list of ways to go.

Still, being stuck in a cave was no picnic. They had lucked out and happened upon a cave that held a couple of hibernating bears which, combined with their rations, meant they were not in immediate danger of starvation. And they had managed to start a fire, so while not as warm and toasty as Lina would like, it was better than being out in the elements.

No, it was being stuck in one place that was getting to her. Or should have been getting to her. The fact that she had been stuck in a cave for three days and was not yet itching to continue moving onto the next town was what was really bugging her if she was going to be honest with herself. Since when had she become so domesticated?

She sighed and looked out the entrance to the cave, desperate to think about something else. How much she hated the snow was the first and easiest thing that came to mind. It was completely blocking the entrance to the cave. While her backside was warm and toasty thanks to the fire, her front was freezing.

She seethed as she thought about how her mother would always lament the fact that she and Luna would never see real snow in Zeferia. Her mother would talk about how much fun snow was, about building snowmen and making snow angels and having snow ball fights. What she left out was how bitterly cold it was. As far as Lina was concerned, snow was very overrated.

"You okay?" Gourry asked as he sat beside her.

"Fine." She mumbled.

"Wow, I wonder when it will melt." He said as he stared at the wall of snow barricading them in.

"It had better be soon if we want the food to last." Lina said.

He thought for a moment before he smiled, "Still, you have to admit, it is beautiful."

Lina felt her jaw hit the floor, "How can you say that when we're buried in it!?"

He grinned nervously as he scratched the back of his head while Lina continued, "Let me guess, you're from some place with lots of snow and you think it is just the neatest stuff on this rock."

He stopped smiling as he leaned forward a bit, "Actually I'm from Elmekia, where it never snows. It's just a lot of sand dunes really."

Lina looked at him, slightly surprised, "I wouldn't have guessed. Though it makes sense. It's no wonder the blizzard took us both off guard. I usually try to head to a warmer climate during the fall but it just didn't work that way this year.

"Still," she said as she clasped her hands behind her back and stretched while grinning deviously, "You being from Elmekia explains some things."

"Oh?" he said nervously. "Like what?"

"Like what happened to your brains. They must have gotten fried by all of the heat!"

He ruffled a hand through her hair and she smiled warmly as he said, "So, how are winters in Zeferia then?"

It never ceased to amaze her how he could forget everything that was actually important, but somehow managed to remember the single offhand remark she had made about her home once.

"It varies a lot. Sometimes it's like there's no difference between fall, winter and spring. Other times we get some ice and a thin layer of snow for a weekend. One time it actually stuck and piled up, or so I was told. I was a baby then. I don't really remember it. In other words, nothing like this."

He rested his hand between them, tantalizingly close to her own. She took a deep breath as she said, "So, do you have a lot of family back in Elmekia you're going to go home to one day?"

"Elmekia is where I'm from, but it's not my home." He clarified.

Lina frowned. "Where is your home, then?"

He looked back out at the storm, gazing out with an indecipherable expression on his face. Was it her imagination, or was there a trace of anxiety in the way that his eyes crinkled? And had his breathing really increased so that he was now taking a few deep, steadying breaths? Finally he said, "I don't have one, not if you're talking about a place that is."

"Huh?" she said.

"Home is where the people you care about are." He clarified.

She blinked a few times, "That makes sense I guess, except isn't your family in Elmekia?"

"It's complicated." He said with a wry smile. "I care about them but I don't like any of them. And I don't want to go back there. So it's not home."

"Huh." She said as she shivered and rubbed her hands along her arms to keep warm. For someone who had the brains of a cephalopod he sure seemed to be splitting hairs. Not to mention the fact that his answers were forming multitudes of questions within her mind. But when she really thought of it, they had nothing but time to kill at the moment. Finally her mind settled on the direction she wanted to take.

"So if home is not with your family, where is it?"

"Wherever she is." He said vaguely.

"Who?"

"Someone I met a long time ago."

She was getting annoyed with his cryptic replies. "Oh, must be Sylphiel." She snapped.

"No actually." He countered, his voice laced with annoyance. "It's you."

Silence permeated the cave, but it was not icy. If anything, the temperature seemed to rise magically, making the cave seem cozier. A sudden truth sprouted within her as she looked around and noted their tidy bedrolls, hers with a pile of books on the side. The smell of bear stew brewing over the fire teasing her nostrils delectably. The knowledge that she was not alone in the cave, but keeping good company. Someone with whom she could talk to for hours.

Someone with whom she could do more than talk, if she let him.

She had always thought letting him would mean making a commitment to home and hearth, giving up a life of traveling. But if home for him was not a place but where she was, then maybe, just maybe that wasn't the case.

She scooted so she was closer to him and he wrapped an arm around her enveloping her in his warmth. The irritation she felt over the lack of irritation she felt over being stuck in one place melted. Suddenly being trapped in a cave in the middle of nowhere didn't seem so bad. Even the cold didn't seem as abominable.

Gingerly she rested her head against his chest, taking comfort from the fact that they could be intimate like this without the pressure of settling down. And that, miles away from Zeferia, she could be home.


End file.
